Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1887-10-13
A THRILLING AZ VENTURE.
william and Thomas oeskin kll -Four Bears
In I've Hours q Saturday Last.
THOMAS sERklx'S NARROW ESCAPE.

A We sat at our desk Monday morning
meditating and wondering what to do for
news. now that court had adjourned aud
the people d-pa rteti for their homes. "a young
man entered the office and handed US ~ clip
Of paper. We supposed at first it was n
notice Of an 'astr y" or taken up. which,
NJ course. are not usually Of general inter
est. Upon reading the slip 81 paper We
found il to he a note from County Com
missioner IIerkin. introducing to us his son
Thomas. who. in company with his brother
William. had tackled bruin in his lair and
came cut Of the fight victorious. Assuring
Thomas that he WA n very welcome visitor
at that moment. we gave him chair and
listened TO the recital Of his adventure
which was in substance as follows:
On last Saturday morning, wishing to
take advantage of the first TALL OF snow for
u deer hunt, Thomas and william Berkin-
boys scarcely out Of their teens amounted
their ponies and with Winchesters each,
started for the foot hills 81 the Snowies,
somewhere near the head 81 the East Fork
Of Big Spring creek. They hunted in
that region the greater portion Of the day
and succesdsd in killing one deer. As night.
fall was approaching they t,ffned their
horses in the direction Of home. little
dreaming that more exciting sport wasjust
ahead Of them than they would probably
experience again in n lifetime. Az they
we're riding along careiessly they OBJ
served tracks that aroused their sus-
picion oh account Of the size. On close
examination they were found to be bear
tracks and no mstake-the boys had seen
bear tracks before. OF course they took
the trail, mounted ON willing stee,s. How
bruin would rise up in the trail and chal-
lenge them Tor approaching upon his do
! main; were thoughts that could only be
keenly felt by the young adventures.
They followed on through brush and tim
Der until about half "a mile from where
they first struck the trail until they came
toa small park almost hidden from OBJ
servation. They came upon it sudde lily.
aad there, behold! was "a sigh to make "A
tenderfoot trenble and an old hunter
nervous. They saw four bears before them
AN old she bear aud four yearlin.s.
William Berkin who was in advance of his
brother Thomas. raised his " inchester a nd
com menced pumping lead into the whole
family and succeeded in wounding three ol
them before Thomas came to his assis
lance by this time the animals got into Il
patch Of hawthorn bushes and were con
cealed from the boys for "a few moments,
/ when Thomas, getting sight Of one by cir
cling around tho thicket. shot il dead
There were still three bears in the thicket
two Of them known to be wounded, in
cluding the old one which was shot in tn,
shoulder. How to get at them was qies
ton, and a dangerous one, as they wer'
now desperate, and were tearing u,
brlsh and biting off quakenasp trees
two inches m dianeter. Their hiIeOu
growls and crys sending "a thrill of terro
through the boys. The boys finally de
cided To keep circlins around the thicket
each time drawing nearer to the center
This was kept up for some time. Tn
old bear hearing them approach, hi
in the brush. partially covering her
self with leaves and sticks. They con
tinu.d their rounds until Thomas got
shot ut one ~ the wounded yearlinys
Thinking that they were going cut of tn
brush. Thomas rode rapidly to the othe
side of the thcket where H. ran Oh to tn
the only one that was not wounded. an,
Immediately opened fire upon it. The bea
after being hit turned and came direct
toward him, but Thomas kept firing as h
approached and finally brought him dow I
During all this time the old she bear wa
within fifteen feet Of him. The actions Z
his horse told him that something wa
wrong, aud glancing around he saw the oil
bear on her hind feet, and in another il
slant she sprang at him. lie placed I'll
muzzle al his gun near her mouth an
pulled the trigger. but the magazine WA
empty. His horse Was in the thick bras
: and seemed bewil,iered in the excitenet
! and the most he could get him to do Wi
to whirl around and slightly change b
r position. II ever he wanted to ride rapid
: away il was at this particular mo,nen
= but his horse seemed "a bigger fool tina
Thompson's colt" His brother William
+ who was not far away, heard his cries I,
help aud rode rapidly to his rescue, an
I shot the bear just behind the ear, the al
= inal falling dead at the heels Of Tom
horse. There were now three dead b,a
: and one wounded one in the thick.t, whs
i William got off from his horse and went
to put rope round the neck Of the q